


your eyes look like coming home.

by orphan_account



Series: Holiday One Shots [1]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Parties, F/F, Lesbian AU, Marriage Proposal, dancer brooke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:12:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21634330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Brooke surprises Vanessa on Christmas in more ways than one.
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Series: Holiday One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559365
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	your eyes look like coming home.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vanjie_love](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanjie_love/gifts).

> Title from "Everything Has Changed" by Taylor Swift  
Thank you to vanjievanjievanjiebitch for the prompt and being my cheerleader 💖

“Are you sure you can’t be home? I haven’t seen you in so long and you can’t even make it home for Christmas?”  
“I know, baby,” Brooke sighs from the other line, “I’ll be home for New Years, though.”  
Being a principal dancer was one of Brooke’s lifelong dreams and she’d achieved it so young, but here ten years later it’s starting to wear on her. She loves her job, but she’s leaving behind the most important person in her life for more than half of the year just to dance. Her longing for Vanessa and the constant aching of her joints make it seem like it’s not worth it anymore.  
“And how long will you be home for then, huh? You’re never here!”  
Vanessa hadn’t meant to sound so snippy but it hurt every time Brooke had to leave again. She knew she was selfish for wanting it so bad but she wished that Brooke would retire the company and come home for good.  
“I’m sorry, Nessa. I wish I could be there so badly.”  
Vanessa sniffs, holding back tears, feeling selfish and ridiculous for snapping, “I know.”  
“Listen, baby, I gotta go rehearse before call time. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I love you.”  
“I love you too. Have a good rehearsal.”  
With that, the line goes silent and Vanessa tosses her cell onto the couch. She leans her head back on the cushions, trying to keep the tears at bay. This was the first time in over three years she’d be without Brooke on Christmas. Usually, the blonde would take the holidays off but this year she landed the lead in The Nutcracker and of course, she couldn’t pass up the lead role, especially since she knew it’d soon be time to switch out her fancy pointe shoes and performing days for soft ballet slippers and teaching bright-eyed kids how to pirouette. She had to take all the leads she could get before she was done. And Vanessa understood that, really. It still didn’t make it any easier that she’d be alone during her favorite time of year.  
—-  
The next few weeks go by in a whirlwind. Brooke calls every night as she promises, and yet despite Vanessa’s life going 100 miles per hour, she still has all the time in the world to miss Brooke. It’s on her mind when she goes shopping for gifts, when she decorates the tree with one less pair of hands to help, when she wraps gifts, when she goes to bed, even on Christmas Eve as she dresses nicely for Silky’s annual holiday party. Silky’s tradition of holding a gathering at her house on Christmas Eve was always Vanessa’s favorite part of the holidays, there were fancy cocktail dresses and cocktails to go with it, pretty lights, dancing, good food and everything that makes the holiday season worth waiting for. Except for this year she was missing her favorite person to share it all with. She can’t help but feel a pang of emptiness as she rings Silky’s doorbell.  
Mere seconds after she rings the doorbell, Silky bursts through the door, pulling her in for a tight hug.  
“Merry Christmas, bitch!” she bellows, the cherry red cocktail in her hand already making her louder than usual.  
“Drunk already, Silk?”  
“You know it, bitch! It’s what the holidays are for, gettin’ drunk and spending time with family and friends. Which speaking of, where’s your ballerina?”  
Vanessa shuffles her feet, “oh you know, she’s out ballerina’ing all over the world.”  
Silky pulls her in for a hug once more, sensing the sadness radiating from Vanessa.  
“I’m sorry, Vanj. Now you’ll be like us single hoes, no kisses under no mistletoe for us.”  
Vanessa cracks a smile, “thanks, Silk.”  
With that, Silky leads her into the house and disappears to go welcome the rest of her guests, leaving her alone. It’s not that Vanessa didn’t have more friends at the party, she definitely did, she just didn’t feel like mingling, instead, she stays perched at the island counter, drinking whatever Silky sets in front of her throughout the night.  
By midnight she’s tipsy and one of the last few left at the party.  
“Vanj, why’ve you been sulking all night?” A’keria asks out of nowhere, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, leaning drunkenly into her.  
“Just tired, Kiki. Work’s been a bitch lately.”  
“Uh-uh, she upset her woman ain’t here,’ Silky pipes up, earning her a sharp glare from Vanessa.  
“Really, Vanjie? That’s what you’re so upset about?”  
A’keria scoffs, it’s all light-hearted and Vanessa knows it, but it still makes tears prick in the corners of her eyes.  
“It’s just not the same without her,” she says softly, her voice breaking in the end. Before A’keria or Silky can say anything more she slides off the barstool and scampers off to the bathroom before more tears fall.  
She grips the edge of the porcelain sink tightly. Why was she being so dramatic? Brooke’s been gone for long periods of time before, this wasn’t new for them despite it being their first Christmas away from one another since they’ve been together. There was something about the way everything was soft and warm and twinkling during the holiday season that made her miss Brooke that much more. She missed sweet hot cocoa kisses, and the way Brooke’s cheeks and nose turn all rosy in the cold, and how Brooke would lead her through a slow dance under the glistening Christmas lights that adorned their living room. She just missed Brooke. Missed her so much she felt empty.  
\-----  
Brooke repeated the counts in her head as she twirled across the hardwood floor, the ache in her feet growing with each passing second. She spins and pirouettes, her movements clean and precise, the only thing her mind focusing on is the soft flow of the familiar music that’s been thrumming in her eardrums for months now. She’s so focused on the precision of every movement of her lithe body she doesn’t even notice the music coming to a sudden halt. Her mind only snaps back to reality when she hears her name being called.  
“Brooke Lynn! Have you heard?” Nina, her best friend, turned assistant shouts, making Brooke freeze in place.  
“What is it, Nina?” Brooke says, smiling, the joy so clearly evident on the other woman’s face.  
“There’s a terrible snowstorm that’s gonna hit the entire East Coast in less than twelve hours-,”  
Brooke cuts her off, “and why is that so exciting to you? It doesn’t seem all that great.”  
“No, you don’t understand. They’re canceling the next two weeks' worth of shows. We could go home, Brooke. You could be with Vanessa and I could be with Monét and the girls.”  
Nina’s giddiness over the thought of spending the holiday with her wife and daughters makes Brooke smile. Then the realization hits her.  
“Nina, how are we gonna get all the way back to New York if there’s a terrible storm coming. We might not get home for weeks,” she frets, tears already forming in her eyes. She had promised Vanessa she’d be home for new years. She promised. She even had plans to propose at the stroke of midnight. Nina shakes her head, “it’s not supposed to start until after midnight, it’s only 6 and I just booked us the last two seats on a last-minute flight that leaves in two hours. The flight is only an hour, we’ll be home before anything even starts. But, we have to go now. The company can ship us our luggage.”  
Brooke can’t help the rush of pure joy that floods her chest as she pulls her assistant in for a hug.  
“Thank you, Nina! Thank you, thank you!”  
Nina smiles warmly, “I know how you’ve been missing that girl of yours, now let’s get home.”  
Brooke quickly changes from her pointe shoes and pulls a coat over her leotard and tights. The two women rush outside to the cab and are on their way.  
Only half an hour later they’re sprinting through the crowds of all the other last-minute holiday travelers until they reach their gate. Nina checks them both in with still half an hour to spare. For the first time since they left the studio, Brooke lets herself breathe and instead of her thoughts racing about being late, her thoughts calm and shift to her girl who’s waiting for her, only a few hours away now. Her thoughts are interrupted by Nina’s excited voice.  
“Are you gonna do it early now that you’re gonna be home before New Years?”  
Brooke’s taken aback for a moment before she remembers the velvet box that’s been in her bag for weeks now. She hadn’t necessarily forgotten, she just wanted it to be perfect and planned and she had planned it for when she got home on New Years and definitely not tonight.  
“Probably not, I had it all perfectly planned out. I can’t just do it on a whim, you should know being spontaneous isn’t my thing by now.”  
Nina smiles, “I know, but just think how excited she’ll be.”  
Brooke bites her lip, Nina _does_ have a point. It’s just not in Brooke’s cards to be spontaneous, that’s Vanessa’s job. Between Brooke’s meticulous planning and Vanessa’s spontaneity they balance each other out, but something as important as a proposal has to be perfect. It just had to be, it’s what Vanessa deserves. She deserves nothing but perfect. Everything had to be perfect. _If it wasn’t perfect Brooke would be a failure and Vanessa would hate her and-_  
Brooke’s spiral comes to halt when Nina places a kind hand on her shoulder.  
“She’ll love it no matter how you propose, Brooke. Trust me. But, we’ve got to get going, we’re boarding,” Nina says, pointing to the line of people ready to get on a plane. Brooke smiles back gratefully as she picks up her one duffel bag and gets in line behind Nina. In just a few hours her girl would be in her arms again and all would be okay again.  
—-  
Vanessa sinks down to the floor, Silky knocking gently on the other side.  
“Vanj, come out. We didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”  
Vanessa stays silent, she’s not mad at her friends, more at herself for being dramatic, but it’s just in her nature she supposes. She’s always been a bit on the dramatic side.  
Silky and A’keria try for a few more minutes until the doorbell rings through the house and Silky mumbles something along the lines of ‘who the fuck is ringing the doorbell this goddamn late.’  
Vanessa takes the silence and runs with it, pulling her knees close to her chest and resting her head on them, willing herself not to cry. Though, the silence only lasts a short time as Silky has taken it upon herself to knock on the door once more.  
“Vanj, you gotta come out. I’ve got something for you.”  
“Silky, please leave me alone for a little while longer. I promise I’ll leave soon. I just need a minute,” Vanessa replies.  
“I promise you, if you come out it’s gonna be worth it.”  
Vanessa sighs and stands up, she supposes she can’t lock herself in there forever.  
She opens the door and sees Silky standing there with her hands on her hips and a knowing smile on her face.  
“I think I’ve got something you might like to see,” Silky says, stepping to the side, allowing Vanessa to walk out. As soon as she steps out she stops dead in her tracks.  
There _she_ is, at the other end of the corridor, tall and beautiful as always, dressed in her dance clothes with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder.  
“Brooke-“ Vanessa breathes out before Brooke throws down her bag and they’re running for one another.  
Before she knows it Vanessa’s in Brooke’s arms and being lifted off the ground and spun in a circle.  
“I missed you so much,” Vanessa whispers into the crook of the blonde’s neck.  
“I missed you too, baby, so much.”  
“How are you here? Didn’t you have a show today?” Vanessa ponders, still being held safely in Brooke’s arms.  
“There’s a huge storm coming, so they canceled the next few weeks of shows, I made it home just in time before everything’s shut down.”  
“So, you’ll be home for a little while then?”  
Brooke smiles and caresses Vanessa’s cheek, “yes, baby, I’ll be home.”  
“I’m so glad you’re home, B. I’m not sure I would’ve made it through tomorrow without you.”  
“Bitch, you didn’t even get through today,” Silky pipes up from the background.  
Vanessa lets out a bark of laughter and pulls away from Brooke, “way to ruin the moment, Silk.”  
Brooke rolls her eyes and pulls Vanessa closer to her once again, closing the space in between the two with a deep kiss, one that Vanessa sighs into.  
“Alright, alright, get outta my house now before y’all start fuckin on my good furniture,” Silky yells.  
Vanessa pulls away and giggles, “it’d be the most action the furniture has ever seen.”  
Silky gasps in mock offense, "my furniture and I happen to be good Christians, unlike you nasty ass hoes."  
Vanessa rolls her eyes before turning back to Brooke, “are you ready to go, babe? I can order us an Uber?”  
“I’m ready when you are, angel,” Brooke replies sweetly, Silky and A’keria fake gagging in the background. Vanessa flips off her friends with a chuckle.  
“Don’t listen to these bitches, baby, our car’s here, you ready?”  
Brooke nods and presses a kiss to her cheek, “ready.”  
Waving goodbye to everyone, they leave hand and hand and snuggle up in the backseat of the Uber, Brooke practically falling asleep on Vanessa’s shoulder.  
Fifteen minutes later they’re in front of their apartment and Vanessa’s gently brushing blonde hairs from Brooke’s closed eyes.  
“We’re here, sweetheart,” Vanessa says, opening the car door and climbing out, offering her hand to Brooke, which she takes gratefully as she follows Vanessa out of the car.  
They’re quietly walking towards the back of the complex where their building is when snow begins to fall from the sky, sticking to Vanessa’s dark eyelashes.  
Brooke had grown up in Toronto and moved to New York when she was barely 18, so snow wasn’t something she wasn’t used to, but she’d never fail to find it bewitching when tiny sparkling snowflakes fell into Vanessa’s hair and landed on her nose and eyelashes, leaving her looking every bit like the angel she is. Suddenly, the velvet box in her bag is weighing her down and she stops dead in her tracks.  
“B? You coming?”  
“It’s snowing,” Brooke declares.  
“Mmhm it is, it’s also late and you’re tired.”  
As if Brooke’s brain was on autopilot she lets go of Vanessa’s hand in favor of digging through her duffle.  
“Babe, what are you doing? You can find what you need inside.”  
“Just wait a minute, Nessa,” she says, her heart thumping in her chest as the snow continues to fall gently around them, coating the ground in a blanket of white. Finally, her fingers find what they were so desperately searching for. She keeps her hand shoved in her bag, gripping the box for dear life while her other hand fumbles to find Vanessa’s.  
Brooke’s body begins to tremble with a buzzing,nervous energy but the moment she catches Vanessa’s amused yet confused gaze she knows this is what she wants. _Vanessa’s_ what she wants.  
She slowly lowers herself onto one knee, not even caring how the ground was cold and wet and she was still in her tights. Dropping her bag to the ground, she pulls out the hand that grasped the ring.  
Vanessa gasps, tears immediately blurring her vision. Wiping them away, she composes herself.  
“B, what’re you doing? You’re crazy,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief.  
“Nessa, I’d known since I met you that you were gonna change my life. Maybe at the beginning, it was for the worse when we were just neighbors who loved to piss each other off and nothing more. I won’t ever forget the day you came over to yell at me for something I’m sure neither of us remember-”  
“Nah, bitch, it was because you was playin’ that boring ass classical music too loud,” Vanessa butts in with a smile that conveyed nothing but love for the woman in front of her.  
Brooke chuckles, “way to ruin my sentimental speech, Ness.”  
‘Sorry, sorry! Continue, baby, it’s lovely.”  
“Anyway, the day you came over to yell at me, for more than an hour I might add, then the storm got so bad in that hour you couldn’t even open my door to get out, and we started off the night bickering and ended it with tipsy kisses by the fireplace, I won’t ever forget that, because that’s when I realized this was it. _You_ were it for me. I knew from that day on I didn’t wanna have my freedom, that used to mean so much to me if that meant I couldn’t have you. I love you more than anything, you’re kind and sweet and a little crazy, but _fuck_, I love you so much, will you marry me, Vanessa?”  
Brooke opens the box to reveal the most beautiful ring Vanessa’s ever seen, the sparkling diamond reminding her of the glittering snow that still flurried around them.  
“Brooke, I-I don’t know what to say, which is a first for me. I don’t know what to say other than yes, yes, of course, I’ll marry you! Now stand up before your dumb ass freezes to death and I ain’t got no one to marry!”  
Vanessa pulls Brooke up by the arm and throws herself into Brooke’s arms, sealing their promise with a kiss. A kiss that conveyed everything that a thousand words couldn’t, snowflakes tickling their cheeks and blushing them pink from the cold. They kiss for what feels like a lifetime, the world around them quieting to a soft hum like they were in a snowglobe of their own.  
When they finally pull apart, Brooke takes Vanessa’s hand and gently slips the ring onto her finger, admiring the way the diamond looks on her golden skin that’s illuminated by the streetlight above them.  
“Let’s get inside now,” Brooke says with a sultry wink, earning her an elbow in her side.  
“God, we just got engaged and you already horny,” Vanessa cackles, probably way too loud for the middle of their apartment complex at almost 2 am.  
“You know you love it,” Brooke jabs back with a giggle.  
“That I do, Brookie, that I do. Race ya?”  
“Oh, you’re on short stuff. I’ll even give you a five-second headstart.”  
With that Vanessa takes off running for their front door, the very front door that didn’t budge over three years ago when she was meant to be leaving Brooke’s, the very front door Brooke would likely carry her past after their wedding.  
As they both tumble through the front door at the same time, pushing and shoving one another like excited children, Vanessa can’t help but think all she could ever want is beyond this front door and within these four walls in the form of one tall, blonde, ballerina.

**Author's Note:**

> thank You for reading and feedback is always appreciated 💖  
Find me on tumblr and request holiday prompts at @/honeyhytes !


End file.
